Though the ending lets the shooter off rather lightly, it doesn’t negate the novel’s cautionary message.
Flashbacks explore events leading up to an incidence of school violence.
The opening scene is full of gripping sensory details: “The barrel of the gun is warm against my temple….[Ace’s] eyes are wide and wild.” But it’s the careful narrative withholding of the holder of the gun's identity that really makes the rest of the novel so interesting. As flashbacks lead up to the opening scene, readers must puzzle out which character will ultimately become the aggressor. Sometimes it seems the shooter must be Ace, the star football player whose father brutally punishes him for perceived on-field failures and who has a history of secretly tormenting the narrator, Sam. But other moments suggest that it’s long-suffering Sam who may become violent. Increasingly agitated by Ace’s bullying, Sam also starts to believe Ace plans to harm their shared childhood crush. Armed with the knowledge of the boys’ inevitable confrontation, readers will become increasingly concerned as Sam internalizes his grandfather’s motto, “Men are supposed to stand on their own two feet. Men don’t ask for help. Men take care of things on their own,” a motto Sam’s and Ace’s fathers would likely endorse as well. Ultimately their definition of masculinity may lie at the heart of the violence. The novel is as cagey about racial identity as it is about the shooter’s, offering little by way of description or cultural cues.
Though the ending lets the shooter off rather lightly, it doesn’t negate the novel’s cautionary message. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8075-7438-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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